Tom's Husband by Sarah Orne Jewett — Read

I shall not dwell long upon the circumstances that led to the marriage / of my hero and heroine; though their courtship was, to them, the only / one that has ever noticeably approached the ideal, it had many aspects / in which it was entirely commonplace in other people's eyes. While the / world in general smiles at lovers with kindly approval and sympathy, it / refuses to be aware of the unprecedented delight which is amazing to the / lovers themselves.

But, as has been true in many other cases, when they were at last / married, the most ideal of situations was found to have been changed to / the most practical. Instead of having shared their original duties, and, / as school-boys would say, going halves, they discovered that the cares / of life had been doubled. This led to some distressing moments for both / our friends; they understood suddenly that instead of dwelling in heaven / they were still upon earth, and had made themselves slaves to new laws / and limitations. Instead of being freer and happier than ever before, / they had assumed new responsibilities; they had established a new / household, and must fulfill in some way or another the obligations of / it. They looked back with affection to their engagement; they had been / longing to have each other to themselves, apart from the world, but it / seemed that they never felt so keenly that they were still units in / modern society. Since Adam and Eve were in Paradise, before the devil / joined them, nobody has had a chance to imitate that unlucky couple. In / some respects they told the truth when, twenty times a day, they said / that life had never been so pleasant before; but there were mental / reservations on either side which might have subjected them to the / accusation of lying. Somehow, there was a little feeling of / disappointment, and they caught themselves wondering -- though they would / have died sooner than confess it -- whether they were quite so happy as / they had expected.